Customer Reviews

The Tonto Woman and Other Western Stories

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Elmore Leonard's short stories convey more plot, action, and true adventure than most action writer's best books. Here you don't get stock characters, lackluster descriptions or stilted dialogue instead you get a convincing look into a time long gone but hardly forgotten. The 'Old West' breaths again thanks to Leonard and for those who are just expecting to find just 'cowboy' stories you'll be pleased to find a craftsman storyteller carving out his best. So sit back and have an adventure or two courtesy of one damn good writer.

As a devoted Elmore Leonard fan, I jump at any opportunity to read anything of his. When I saw this collection of mostly 50's western short stories, I did not quite know what to expect. But, I should have know that Elmore Leonard's work would contain the same interesting characters that I have grown to expect.

It was interesting to read some of his early work.

"Three-Ten To Yuma" was an interesting story... I remember the movie that was made from the idea of this story. "Only Good Ones" is a great story that Leonard later wrote into a full blown novel "Valdez Is Coming".... and made into a top notch movie with Burt Lancaster in the title roll.

I particularly liked "Trouble At Rindo's Station".

I highly reccomend this collection to any Elmore Leonard fan and hope that others not familiar with his work will check it out and perhaps read other things he has written.... "Hombre" is one of the best westerns ever written. And please try his later works when he switched from writing westerns to crime stories. He still has the same rich characters and great dialogue.

Reading Elmore Leonard is like eating candy. The main difference between these stories of the 1950's and his later work is that the heroes of these stories are not cynical.

Before Elmore Leonard wrote contemporary mystery with an over the edge attitude, he was writing westerns with an over the edge attitude. This collection is a reprint of some of Mr. Leonard's western short stories, some of which haven't seen print in over four decades.

Any fan of Mr. Leonard's mysteries will quickly see where he developed his talent for the hard boiled but passionate hero and the fiery in your face femme fatale. The ironic humor, the lovable wackos, and the barren scenery (the Arizona desert not Miami) help make this collection a must read by sub-genre and the author's mystery fans. This reviewer's contention is that it will not take much inspiration to persuade readers to try this anthology because they are all superb tales that represent some of Mr. Leonard's best works.

Harriet Klausner